mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

high school hype for Minor?

"Brandon Minor has never lived up to his high school hype but will have a chance to nail down a starting job."

This is a quote from a Rivals preview of Michigan. I find it particularly odd because Minor was their #1 FULLBACK coming out of high school. So a fullback was behind Mike Hart and then was the leading rusher for Michigan last year...and he hasn't lived up to expectations? I just find that statement kind of strange.* Shouldn't Rivals expect their #1 fullback to be a lead blocker and occasional pass catcher? Or has he failed to meet expectations because he's not a fullback anymore and Rivals is angry that they were wrong about his position?

*I am admittedly a fan of Brandon Minor's football skills - and have been for a long time - but I'm asking this question honestly, not looking for approval.

How does one go about quantifying hype? This could be nothing more than going online and Googling Brandon Minor and seeing that a lot of articles were written about him and he was a highly sought after recruit. To say that one has not "lived up to hype" is just intellectually lazy. No one lives up to their hype unless they've had minimal hype. Unless you're TebowJesus.

Put in the proper context, just like you said, he was behind Michigan's all time leading rusher for two years, playing for a coach who gave Hart all the carries when healthy.

Then Minor learned a new offense last year and was injured half the year. When healthy, he was a bruising, great runner. One of my favorite memories from last season (there aren't many) was his determination to score against Ohio State. Those 4 rushes in the second quarter, down near the goal-line, were due to his determination and attitude. I called my Dad at that point and told him that even though a loss was likely, that was the spirit the team needed for 2009.

On a tangent, another point you bring up is worth discussing - the whole national writer thing. They aren't connected to the day to day of the team and therefore really don't know the story. So, we get platitudes and assumptions like this Minor deal. Another example I read this morning - Peter King wrote today that Seattle got the better of the Cory Redding - Julian Peterson trade. Huh? Has he watched Cory Redding since Detroit signed him? Has he seen the large D-linemen that Schwartz has signed to free up Peterson? It's just baseline, not investigated assumptions based upon who he likes. I'm shocked he didn't mention Brett Favre in the bulletin point (okay, I'm done ranting).

I remember when Minor committed. He was listed as a fullback but seemed more like a tailback. I also remember thinking that he was highly rated, but the response to his commitment was sort of muted. In other words, I didn't see him as all that hyped, despite his #1 ranking at fullback. In any case, I hope he and Carlos Brown can have breakout years this season.

I think Minor will be Chris Perry, circa 2009. Perry always seemed tantalizingly close to being a good back, then finally had a decent junior year and was established as the starter his senior year, when he exploded. Minor seems like a little bigger version of Perry on the field, though I'm not sure his hands are as good as Perry's, and Perry was a workhorse that season while Minor is likely to suffer through those nagging injuries that have slowed him down over the years. I still expect Minor to be the workhorse for this team during the season, and he may be the best back in the Big 10 if he stays on the field.

During the mgoblue interview when the players were in the weight room, Doug asked Minor when he had last been healthy, and he said "freshmen year". So if he even manages to play in 3/4 of the games that'd be great news.